Search results for tag #uspolitics
Trump ‘border czar’ says ICE officer in Maine killing should not have cleared vetting
By Maya Yang
Tom Homan comments on officer’s eligibility to serve after reports that agent’s two ex-wives had accused him of abuse
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/26/trump-border-czar-ice-officer-maine-killing-vetting
#ICEUSImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement #Trumpadministration #USimmigration #Maine #USnews #USpolitics #Texas #TheGuardian #MayaYang
Trump ‘border czar’ says ICE officer in Maine killing should not have cleared vetting https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/26/trump-border-czar-ice-officer-maine-killing-vetting #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #TrumpAdministration #UsImmigration #Maine #UsNews #UsPolitics #Texas
Eighty years ago today, the US detonated a nuclear bomb on Bikini Atoll, the first of its kind since Nagasaki.
The contamination caused by the bomb - one of two dropped as part of Operation Crossroads - was 1,000 times that in Chernobyl and is thought to have left the island uninhabitable for 24,000 years.
At a party later the same year celebrating the mission and the disbanding of the team behind it, they made a cake immitating the blast.
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Two pictures, one on the left showing the mushroom cloud over Bikini Atoll caused by a nuclear bomb dropped by the US.
On the right, three people - one of whom is William Blandy - are shown smiling as they cut a large white cake which has a replica of the bomb on top of it.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted final approval to USDC stablecoin issuer Circle to operate as a national trust bank. Comptroller Jonathan Gould previously represented Circle as a client when he was a partner at Jones Day.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren previously raised concerns about corruption at the OCC after a memo from Palmer Luckey’s Erebor neo-bank promised investors they could secure a charter in a whirlwind six months thanks to “unique connectivity to banking regulators” and “Palmer’s political network”.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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Circle, the operator of the USDC stablecoin, has received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a national trust bank. This means the company will now be able to manage reserves directly for its stablecoin, although it is more limited than commercial bank charters and does not allow the company to take deposits or make loans. Comptroller Jonathan Gould has served in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency under both Trump administrations. Between the two, he was a partner at Jones Day, where Circle was among his clients.29
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The approval and conditional approval of a slew of applications by cryptocurrency companies for national trust bank charters has drawn concern from various sources, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who said in a May letter that the agency had “approved at least nine national trust charters for crypto companies that intend to engage in activities that appear to go far beyond the narrow set of activities permitted by law. These companies are effectively crypto banks that want to evade the fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank. Your decision to facilitate this regulatory arbitrage not only conflicts with federal law, it also poses serious risks to consumers, the safety and soundness of the banking system, and the separation of banking and commerce.”30 In April, she had opened an inquiry into the OCC’s approval of a bank charter for Erebor, a new neo-bank founded by Palmer Luckey (also an investor in Theodore Gillibrand’s venture) and backed by the likes of Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale.31 As part of her inquiry, she published a fundraising document circulated by Erebor to potential investors, which had promised the bank would obtain a charter within a remarkably short six months. A co-founder’s “unique connectivity to banking regulators (especially Jonathan Gould, next Comptroller) + Palmer’s political network will get this done,” the memo read.32
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Screenshot of a portion of a document: 4. Timeline: Receive bank charter in less than 6 months from submission around 5/25.
a. Preliminary conditional approval in <4 months.
b. Final approval in ~3 months.
c. Co-Founder’s unique connectivity to banking regulators (especially Jonathan Gould, next Comptroller) + Palmer’s political network will get this done.
Caption: Erebor fundraising memo (via Senator Warren)
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In an inquiry letter sent to Luckey, she asked, “Which Erebor co-founder had “unique connectivity” to Comptroller Jonathan Gould? Is it Jacob Hirshman, a former executive at Circle Financial, one of Comptroller Gould’s former clients?”33 She also noted that Erebor’s charter application had been submitted by Adam J. Cohen, who was named Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Comptroller of the OCC only two months later.34
The Department of Justice is reportedly planning to drop charges against Matthew Goettsche, who ran a crypto Ponzi scheme that bilked $722 million from investors he described as “dumb” and “sheep”, after he hired Trump-linked lawyers to lobby for legal relief.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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The Department of Justice is reportedly planning to drop charges against Matthew Goettsche, creator of the Bitclub Network cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of $722 million.24 Goettsche was indicted in 2019 after offering investors what he claimed were shares in a bitcoin mining pool and encouraging them to recruit other investors. Goettsche told his business partners that he was “building this whole model on the backs of idiots”, also describing his investors as “dumb” and “sheep”. When he told a co-conspirator to falsely “bump up the daily mining earnings starting today by 60%,” his partner replied, “that is not sustainable, that is ponzi teritori [sic] and fast cash-out ponzi . . . but sure.” He later directed a co-conspirator to reduce the supposed mining earnings so he could “retire RAF!!! (rich as fuck)”.25
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Goettsche has been lobbying the Department of Justice for relief from the prosecution, hiring a team of lawyers with connections to President Trump. Among them is Bradford Cohen, an attorney who appeared as a contestant on The Apprentice in 2004 and has been an avid Trump supporter ever since, and Brett Tolman, a lawyer and Fox News contributor who has been helping clients lobby for Trump pardons since the first Trump administration. Among Tolman’s past clients are Charles Kushner, father of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and crypto cause célèbre Ross Ulbricht [I75].26 Cohen has also been in the Trump pardon business since Trump’s first presidency, successfully lobbying for clemency for rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.27
Also in this issue: Prediction markets continue to be a crypto-esque wild west, with a recent WSJ report exposing the Trump-linked Polymarket’s false advertising. Influencers paid by Polymarket are boasting about manipulating bets.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #Polymarket #CitationNeededNewsletter
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In prediction markets
The world of prediction markets continues to be a crypto-esque wild west. Polymarket — a leading platform and one that counts Donald Trump Jr. among its investors and strategic advisers — is at the center of a recent Wall Street Journal investigation alleging that the company has been paying social media influencers to film themselves making fake trades, then using a “social-media army” to boost the videos. According to the Journal’s analysis of more than 1,000 videos posted by creators working with a Polymarket-contracted marketing company, $1.9 million in supposed bets were placed, but none were real. Among the influencers promoting Polymarket is Adin Ross, an Andrew Tate protégé with a multi-million dollar deal with the company. In videos, Ross repeatedly spoke about how he could profit from insider trading on Polymarket, such as by betting on the release date of an album by his friend Drake.17
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Image: Tweet by Adin Reports on July 22, 2026: “Adin Ross just discovered a huge money glitch on Polymarket while looking at the “IShowSpeed meets Trump” market and immediately said he could make it happen himself for an easy $100k 😬 “I could just make that happen.””
Caption: Even after the Wall Street Journal’s report, Ross has continued posting videos discussing how he could profit from markets he could manipulate (Twitter)
If the Senate doesn’t pass Clarity by the start of recess on August 7, its chances become very slim. Future attempts at crypto legislation would not likely be nearly this friendly to the industry — a huge blow after crypto spent $200M+ expecting they could dictate the bill.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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If the Clarity Act dies, the crypto industry loses its best chance at a sweeping bill that would lock in the deregulatory gains they’ve achieved through agency capture. The SEC and CFTC are currently run by Trump loyalists who have aggressively rolled back enforcement and reinterpreted their authority to favor crypto, but the crypto industry knows that agency policy can be reversed by the next administration. That’s why they have been so desperate to get the Clarity Act signed into law. Losing it would be a massive blow to the industry after it committed $200 million (and counting) in super PAC spending since 2024, with a sweeping legislative rewrite as a primary goal.
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With the Senate only in session for about two more weeks before the August recess, the Clarity Act cryptocurrency market structure bill’s chances of passing are growing slimmer by the day. Any hope of the bill clearing both chambers before August is already dead, given that the House begins its recess session at the end of this week. The Senate has a little longer — until August 7 — although some Senators have already said they will be absent next week to attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham.1
When Congress returns in September, its members will be consumed by the midterms, leaving little time for complex negotiations. The lame duck session follows that: a notoriously challenging time for major legislation. The Clarity Act may well be kaput under this Congress, and the industry-tailored bill will face a significantly more challenging — if not impossible — path to law if Republicans lose their trifecta in the midterms. In May, Senator Cynthia Lummis predicted that if the bill doesn’t pass under this Congress, the next opportunity would likely not come until 2030.2
And even Republicans have expressed concerns with the bill, revisiting the issue of stablecoin yield that negotiators thought they had resolved.
The bill needs sixty votes to pass, which would require all Republicans and seven Democrats to sign on.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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And it’s not just Democrats who may pose obstacles. Some Republicans have also expressed concerns with the draft. Senators John Curtis (UT) and John Cornyn (TX) told Punchbowl News they aren’t happy with the result of the stablecoin negotiations, and remain worried that allowing stablecoin operators to offer yield could trigger deposit flight from community banks. “Crypto is not going to be loaning any money for small businesses,” Cornyn said. “If we’re taking loan capacity away from our banks who are in these communities — I want to make sure that we’re not hurting the very people who rely on these banks.”11 However, he told Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller that it would be “premature” to say whether he would vote against the current draft.12 Republican Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) also intimated that he “might” have concerns with the bill, but did not specify what they were.11
Republicans could force the draft bill to a vote before the August recess, and Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly hinted he may do just that, but whether even the most crypto-friendly Democrats will support it remains dubious. The bill needs sixty votes to pass, meaning at least seven Democrats must sign on. After that, it would still have to pass the House.
Though Republicans are preemptively pinning blame on Democrats if the crypto bill fails to pass, Democrats are so far holding out for meaningful ethics language, and have suggested that ethics is not their only complaint with the draft legislation.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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Democratic lawmakers still hadn’t seen the draft “compromise” the day before it went public,4 but that didn’t stop Republicans and the crypto industry from launching an aggressive PR campaign pressuring them to accept it — while preemptively assigning blame if the bill fails. “If Senate Democrats block this historic legislation after the administration has bent over backward to accommodate their concerns,” one White House source told The Hill, “stakeholders should make no mistake: it is the Democrats who are blocking this legislation because they were never serious about a legislative outcome.”5
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Democrats appear unmoved. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), one of the two Democrats who voted to pass the bill out of the Senate Banking Committee, has described the DOJ enforcement mechanism as an “unserious offer”.6 Democrats involved in the negotiations have previously insisted on enabling state attorneys general to enforce ethics provisions, and neither side seems willing to budge. Patrick Witt, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, has shown no sign of yielding, arguing that Democrats who believe an ethics provision without state AG enforcement is meaningless are “basically saying that ALL current federal ethics laws are meaningless because none of them are enforceable by state AGs”.7 Given this administration’s track record on ethics enforcement, he may have a point.
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Other Democratic Senators remain firmly opposed. Senators Murphy (CT), Merkley (OR), and Van Hollen (MD) held a press conference last week condemning the bill as “in and of itself a fundamental corruption if it gives Trump’s corruption the power of law.” Merkley added that “there’s a lot more wrong with this Clarity Act than simply the fact that it lacks corruption measures.”8
Image: Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks at a podium labeled with “Stop Trump’s Crypto Corruption”. Behind him stands Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) and a group of other people.
Caption: Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks out against the Clarity Act at a July 14 press conference alongside Americans for Financial Reform, Indivisible, and Ben McKenzie (YouTube)
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Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) said the bill “does nothing to stop President Trump from making his next $1.4 billion from crypto” and will “supercharge” his crypto corruption.9
Even seven of the Democratic Senators most open to crypto legislation — Alsobrooks, Booker (NJ), Cortez Masto (NV), Gallego, Hickenlooper (CO), Warner (VA), and Warnock (GA) — issued a statement that the draft “as it currently stands falls short”. Ethics, they noted, was only one problem with the bill. “Key provisions including those addressing ethics for elected officials, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity must be strengthened.”10 They noted that they were still committed to negotiating an acceptable version of the bill, but given this lengthy list of concerns and the dwindling time before August recess, the feasibility of reaching agreement seems doubtful.
Ethics enforcement would be left to a DOJ that has shown no appetite for reining in Trump’s corruption. The provision would expire in 2029, and explicitly bars retroactive enforcement against Trump.
Any fine is capped at $500k: less than 0.04% of what the President brought in from crypto last year.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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But the provision is extremely narrow: it bars the President from issuing tokens while largely leaving untouched his family’s existing web of crypto businesses. It gives him at least a full year to divest or move to a blind trust his stakes in World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.3 And it’s temporary, set to expire on January 20, 2029 — the day a new president takes office. The provision not only fails to establish a standard for future administrations, it shields Trump from future accountability by expressly barring enforcement of penalties for “pre-sunset conduct” after that date. The DOJ enforcement mechanism is entirely toothless. The department is run by Trump appointees who have already shown no appetite for investigating the president’s many conflicts of interest, and is currently headed by Todd Blanche — a former personal lawyer to Trump. Any violations would result in a fine capped at $500,000: less than 0.04% of Trump’s crypto income last year.
Though Republicans and the crypto industry presented the latest draft crypto bill as a viable option after months of disagreements, even the crypto-friendliest Democrats have are opposing its toothless ethics provision that would not meaningfully impact the President’s crypto grift.
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
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While some of the bill’s supporters had hoped that resolving the banking–crypto impasse on stablecoin yield [I99, 102, 103] would allow the bill to rocket to the President’s desk, significant disagreements remain. Chief among them is ethics. Senate Democrats — including those who supported the bill’s progression out of the Senate Banking Committee — are insisting on some provisions that would limit the President’s self-enrichment via crypto. The recent release of President Trump’s 2025 annual financial disclosure, which revealed he had made more than $1.4 billion in the last year just from his crypto ventures, has only amplified these demands.
Link card to Citation Needed post titled “Trumps $1.4 billion crypto disclosure”
Republicans and crypto figures initially presented the latest draft, which went public on July 22 after White House sign-off, as a promising path to law. The so-called “compromise” on ethics would bar the president, vice president, and members of Congress from issuing cryptocurrencies, with enforcement delegated to the Department of Justice.
Newsletter: The Clarity Act cryptocurrency market structure bill may well be dead, as the crypto industry has spent $200 million to get a bill too corrupt for Democrats to pass and a president too corrupt to sign anything that might meaningfully limit his grift.
https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-107/
#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter
This is both excellent writing and, sadly, accurate.
> I have been practicing medicine for four decades. Cancer is my vocabulary, not his. And I know what happened the last time a government borrowed it. The Nazi state’s central perversion was the medicalization of killing: the enemy as tumor, as bacillus, the nation as patient, extermination as cure.Robert Jay Lifton called it the biomedical vision. It recruited my profession first, and my profession answered willingly. When a government describes citizens as a cancer, it has written the first line of a treatment plan. On Thursday, the plan was read aloud, from a state department podium, in six verbs.
> "My family left Russia in 1917. My relatives left Germany in 1933. In both generations, leaving was called excessive; staying was the reasonable position. But an alarm that was right both times it sounded is not overcaution. On Thursday, it sounded a third time."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/22/stephen-miller-marco-rubio-trump-speeches
I've accused #DOGE of terminating #NEH grants (and other grants) by using dumb keyword searches to look for prohibited words. It turns out that DOGE used dumb #ChatGPT prompts instead. Like this one (quoting verbatim): “Does the following relate at all to D.E.I.? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/arts/humanities-endowment-doge-trump.html
#Censorship #DefendResearch #DEI #Funding #Humanities #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Update. Here's a #DOGE bro testifying in the lawsuit about terminating #DEI-related #NEH grants. He's being asked: What is DEI? If that's too complicated, what is your understanding of DEI?
https://bsky.app/profile/404media.co/post/3mgpkttntsk2t
#Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
"How #DOGE Gutted the #NEH in 22 Days."
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/research/2026/03/11/how-doge-gutted-neh-22-days
"[A newly released] trove of documents—including depositions with top NEH administrators and DOGE staff, as well as emails, spreadsheets and text messages—suggest rushed, chaotic funding termination decisions and reveal the extent of DOGE’s influence in terminating 97 percent of the agency’s grants."
Example: DOGE terminated an NEH grant to replace the HVAC system at a museum, acting on this #ChatGPT rationale: "Improving HVAC systems enhances preservation conditions for collections, aligning with the goal of providing greater access to diverse audiences."
#Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Humanities #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Update. "Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California last year admitted that they used keywords related to diversity, gender, vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 to screen for projects that ran afoul of the Trump administration’s priorities. It’s an admission that lawyers for the research professors say is proof that the agencies illegally cancelled nearly $2 billion in grants. And that’s a major development in a lawsuit filed by UC researchers against the Trump administration to permanently get their grants back."
https://apnews.com/article/california-research-grants-terminated-keywords-lawsuit-a0ddb01413ecb68d9668490a20be6207
#Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
Ok...the #Maine Senate races is about to get fun again.
We might yet pull this one out of the fire.
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Post from Troy Jackson via X (frmly Twitter) @TroyJackson207 - responding "Very concerned." to an earlier a post by journalist FS Sahil Kapur & @sahilkapur that read:
"Just spoke to @SenatorCollins about her new Democratic opponent
@TroyJackson207.
“I've known him for many, many years. He has been around Augusta for like 20
years, and he's from the same area of Maine that I'm from in northern Maine. ..."
Maine Senate Seat [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
Digging into Jackson, I'm very suspicious of him & his GOP past, but he also seems closest to the "blue collar" background and progressive platform that Platner ran on so he's probably the most likely to excite the huge percentage to for some reason voted for Platner. So I get the choice, you couldn't install somebody who was deeply different than the guy who overwhelmingly won the nomination.
Troy Jackson poised to replace Graham Platner as Democratic nominee in Maine Senate race
By Shrai Popat
Ex-Maine senate president is frontrunner to replace Platner, who ended his campaign after sexual assault allegations
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/20/troy-jackson-maine-senate-race-graham-platner
#Maine #USSenate #USnews #USpolitics #Democrats #USCongress #TheGuardian #ShraiPopat
Troy Jackson poised to replace Graham Platner as Democratic nominee in Maine Senate race https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/20/troy-jackson-maine-senate-race-graham-platner #Maine #UsSenate #UsNews #UsPolitics #Democrats #UsCongress
ICE officers to use body cameras during vehicle stops, Trump ‘border czar’ says
By Guardian staff and agencies
Tom Homan’s comments come amid scrutiny over federal immigration agents’ fatal shooting of two men in six days
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/19/ice-record-vehicle-stops-body-camera-mandate-homan
#ICEUSImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement #Trumpadministration #USnews #USpolitics #USimmigration #Texas #Maine #Worldnews #TheGuardian #Guardianstaff #agencies
ICE officers to use body cameras during vehicle stops, Trump ‘border czar’ says https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/19/ice-record-vehicle-stops-body-camera-mandate-homan #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #TrumpAdministration #UsNews #UsPolitics #UsImmigration #Texas #Maine #WorldNews
One week, two killings: Trump’s immigration crackdown turns deadly – again https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/19/ice-killings-immigration-crackdown #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #UsImmigration #DonaldTrump #TrumpAdministration #ProtestUs #Maine #Houston #Texas #UsPolitics #UsNews
One week, two killings: Trump’s immigration crackdown turns deadly – again
By Maanvi Singh in San Francisco and Fabiola Cineas in Houston
The fatal shootings of two men, both killed in their vehicles by ICE agents, have rekindled anger over the US’s militarized deportation push
https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/19/ice-killings-immigration-crackdown
#ICEUSImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement #USimmigration #DonaldTrump #Trumpadministration #ProtestUS #Maine #Houston #Texas #USpolitics #USnews #TheGuardian #MaanviSinghinSanFrancisco #FabiolaCineasinHouston
White House backs Argentina players over Falklands banner in World Cup semi-final
By Sammy Gecsoyler
White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speech
#WorldCup2026 #Argentina #FalklandIslands #England #UKnews #Football #KeirStarmer #Politics #USpolitics #Trumpadministration #USnews #Sport #Worldnews #WorldCup #Americas #TheGuardian #SammyGecsoyler
Democrats call for investigation into ICE officer shooting in Maine after new reports emerge
By José Olivares
Lawmakers press for review of hiring practices amid a spate of ICE-related deaths within the same week
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/17/ice-officer-maine-killing
#ICEUSImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement #Trumpadministration #Maine #USnews #USpolitics #USimmigration #TheGuardian #JosOlivares
Democrats call for investigation into ICE officer shooting in Maine after new reports emerge https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/17/ice-officer-maine-killing #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #TrumpAdministration #Maine #UsNews #UsPolitics #UsImmigration
In case you missed it:
Ken Paxton vowed to “stop at nothing to uncover and stop any illegal voting activity.” But experts say he may have violated state law by using an address where he no longer appears to live to vote in six elections in two years.
#News #Texas #KenPaxton #Law #Vote #Election #Voting #Elections #TX #USPolitics
This is fucking masterful and exactly how DHS should be dealt with.
Good on ya, lady.
‘Fear, intimidation, violence’: calls mount to remove ICE from US streets after agents killed two men
By Dani Anguiano
Agents killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas, even though both were not targets of enforcement action
#ICEUSImmigrationandCustomsEnforcement #USimmigration #USnews #Maine #Texas #Trumpadministration #USpolitics #TheGuardian #DaniAnguiano
‘Fear, intimidation, violence’: calls mount to remove ICE from US streets after agents killed two men https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/15/remove-ice-us-streets-joan-sebastian-duran-guerrero-lorenzo-salgado-araujo #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #UsImmigration #UsNews #Maine #Texas #TrumpAdministration #UsPolitics
ALL OF THIS BECAUSE....
Trump wanted a diversion from the Epstein files.
NOONE was mentioned more often in pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's files than Donald J. Trump!
These two images were released, but within an hour, deleted by Trump's DOJ.
THE COVERUP CONTINUES.
As does the Iran war.
#AureFreePress #News #epsteinfiles #uspol #uspolitics
Trump at a Mar-a-Lago Jeffrey Epstein party in the 1990s.
Graham Platner was an unforced error – the left has lessons to learn | Osita Nwanevu
By Osita Nwanevu
Many imagined his buff, gruff and tattooed traits would help him connect with working-class men. But this logic was flawed
#USpolitics #Democrats #Maine #NewYork #ZohranMamdani #BernieSanders #USSenate #HouseofRepresentatives #USCongress #USnews #TheGuardian #OsitaNwanevu
Did the media fall short in its reporting on Graham Platner? | Margaret Sullivan
By Margaret Sullivan
The twisting road to the candidate’s exit left a lot to be desired. But ultimately, reporters ferreted out the truth
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/13/graham-platner-media
#Media #USpressandpublishing #USpolitics #USnews #Maine #Democrats #Rapeandsexualassault #TheGuardian #MargaretSullivan
Did the media fall short in its reporting on Graham Platner? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/13/graham-platner-media #Media #UsPressAndPublishing #UsPolitics #UsNews #Maine #Democrats #RapeAndSexualAssault
Graham Platner was an unforced error – the left has lessons to learn | Osita Nwanevu https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/13/graham-platner-unforced-error-left-lessons-to-learn #UsPolitics #Democrats #Maine #NewYork #ZohranMamdani #BernieSanders #UsSenate #HouseOfRepresentatives #UsCongress #UsNews
US congressman says ‘IDF is lying’ about his detention by settlers and soldiers https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/12/ro-khanna-israel-detention-reaction #UsPolitics #Israel #Democrats #Palestine #UsNews #WestBank #BenjaminNetanyahu #MiddleEastAndNorthAfrica #WorldNews
Update. After the American Diabetes Association (#ADA) physically evicted five members from an ADA event for peacefully handing out print copies of a pro-science, anti-Trump editorial published in the ADA's own flagship journal …
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/121657
* two senior leaders resigned in protest -- the new President-Elect and the chair of the Scientific Sessions Planning Committee;
* at least two others might have resigned, but these reports are still unconfirmed;
* dozens of members walked out of the presidential address, holding signs that said "We stand with science"; and
* colleagues launched a "shame on you" open letter against the ADA.
https://www.change.org/p/an-open-letter-to-the-american-diabetes-association-shame-on-you
(I just signed the open letter and hope you will too.)
#Censorship #DefendResearch #Medicine #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Update. Here's the #ADA side of the controversy. It was just following the law requiring nonprofit orgs to be nonpartisan.
https://diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/american-diabetes-associations-statement-regarding-nonpartisanship
PS: A few points in reply:
* Then why did the ADA flagship journal publish the pro-science, Trump-critical editorial in the first place? Is the ADA now saying that was a mistake? Will it try to retract that editorial?
* The members distributing copies of the editorial were not acting for the association. Or if that was not clear, what if they'd made clear (as the authors of the editorial made clear) that they were only speaking for themselves, not for the ADA?
* Could the ADA preserve its nonpartisanship by disavowing the peaceful leafleteers? Did it think federal law required it to call the police to remove them from the building?
* Would the ADA have called the police on peaceful pro-Trump or pro-Battacharya leafleteers?
* Would it have called the police on attendees who sat quietly in their seats wearing "We stand with science" buttons?
#Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Medicine #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Update. "How the American Diabetes Association tried to hide a critical editorial published in its own journal—to no avail."
https://prospect.org/2026/07/10/appeasing-trump-american-diabetes-association-nih-dei/
#Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Medicine #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Update. "#FCC Approves Reflect Orbital's Space Mirror Satellite That Astronomers Hate."
"Despite a flood of objections, the FCC has approved a startup's plan to launch a controversial satellite that’ll use a giant mirror to reflect sunlight to Earth after dark…The approval is only for one satellite…[But] Reflect Orbital envisions operating over 50,000 satellites by 2035, effectively surrounding the Earth with a fleet of mirrors. The proposal has faced stiff pushback from environmental groups and astronomers who are concerned that the satellites will unleash intrusive light pollution."
: #delusionaldon #democrats #donaldthehoaxtrump #eightysix47 #makebelieveeconomy #nokings #trumpcurse #trumpstein #trumpsteincoverup #trumpublicans #uspol #uspolitics @uspolitics :
FLORIDA PASTOR SAYS A PORTAL HAS OPENED OVER THE WHITE HOUSE AND MAR-A-LAGO SO DONALD TRUMP CAN GET THE WORD OF GOD STRAIGHT FROM HEAVEN
Mastodon Post
Please see my reply in the attachment.
Trump’s affordability crisis hits his supporters hardest as he calls housing bill of ‘minor importance’ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/01/trump-voters-housing-affordability-bill #UsEconomy #Business #Economics #DonaldTrump #UsNews #UsPolitics #HousingMarket #RealEstate
How to plan for an election that leaders are trying to subvert https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/12/trump-election-subversion #UsMidtermElections2026 #UsVotingRights #DonaldTrump #UsNews #TrumpAdministration #UsPolitics
The Man in the High Castle is now on Netflix. I first watched it when it was airing over 20 years ago. Watching it again now, in this current political climate, is something I think folks would benefit from. My politics have matured in that time so it has a lot more impact than it did on me the first time I watched it.
#Netflix #Television #PhilipKDick #TheManInTheHighCastle #USPol #USPolitics
Platner’s collapse doesn’t mean we should reject outsiders in politics | Bhaskar Sunkara https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/12/graham-platner-political-outsiders #Democrats #Maine #UsPolitics #UsNews
I mean it's not the best prize, but...
#uspol #uspolitics #politics #LindseyGraham #SoLongFascist
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Death at the prize machine in the "is X even in this thing?!" but it's Lindsey Graham and Death is all, "well, wait, actually... that one's not so bad."
28 days. That's how long since anyone outside a hospital room has seen Mitch McConnell alive — since June 14, when two ambulances and a fire truck blocked his D.C. street and a neighbor watched paramedics roll out a body whose feet weren't moving
The party that let him pick Supreme Court justices for a generation cannot produce ten seconds of footage proving he breathes
#Politics #News #Journalism #McConnell #Senate #Democracy #USPolitics #Accountability #Resist #Kentucky #ProofOfLife
Ten seconds. Ask yourself what kind of men need the dark that badly.
#Politics #News #Journalism #McConnell #Senate #Democracy #USPolitics #Accountability #Resist #Kentucky #ProofOfLife
Global uprising in defence of fair pay: US edition
More than 4,000 nurses at Mass General Brigham took strike action for better pay and conditions on Wednesday.
Today, the hospital locked them out in an act of union-busting.
Graham Platner officially withdraws candidacy for US Senate in Maine https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/10/graham-platner-maine-senate-officially-withdraws #Maine #UsSenate #UsPolitics #UsCongress #UsNews
Why Graham Platner wasn’t the answer to the Democrats’ man problem – Stateside with Kai and Carter https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2026/jul/10/graham-platner-democrats-stateside-podcast #UsCongress #UsNews #UsPolitics #Maine #UsMidtermElections2026
"Monster Under The Bed"
Trump says he left instructions to 'bomb Iran like they've never seen before' if Iran assassinates him.
#AureFreePress #News #press #uspol #uspolitics
: #delusionaldon #democrats #donaldthehoaxtrump #eightysix47 #makebelieveeconomy #nokings #trumpcurse #trumpstein #trumpsteincoverup #trumpublicans #uspol #uspolitics @uspolitics :
NEW INFORMATION ABOUT LATEST ICE MURDER
Mastodon Post
Happy 250th to America's ultimate power couple! 🗽 💘 ⚖️
#IndependenceDay #LadyLiberty #LadyJustice #4thOfJuly #Art #FanArt #FanFic #FanFiction #Illustration #July4th #Politics #USPol #USPolitics
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“LADY LIBERTY x LADY JUSTICE 3”, an illustration of an oxidized Statue of Liberty making out with a golden statue of Lady Justice, by @kaywest@deviantart.com.
Trump called ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ over election commission firings - US politics live https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/jul/10/donald-trump-election-commission-republicans-midterms-graham-platner-iran-us-politics-latest-news-updates #DonaldTrump #UsPolitics #TrumpAdministration #UsVotingRights #UsMidtermElections2026 #Maine #Iran #UsisraelWarOnIran
On the ground in #Maine.
Some things change quickly and others barely at all. Here, overlooking the ferry terminal at Lincolnville Beach.
#TroyJackson #democrats #uspolitics #ShotWithHalide #ProcessZero
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A somewhat improvised campaign sign on a bluff with a small working harbor in the backdrop. Hazy summer light
Maine progressives race to find candidate to replace Graham Platner https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/09/maine-progressives-graham-platner-replacement #Maine #Democrats #UsSenate #UsMidtermElections2026 #UsCongress #UsPolitics #UsNews
https://www.europesays.com/3119066/ Susan Collins Odds of Losing to Democrats in Maine Amid Platner Scandal #Democrats #elections #GrahamPlatner #Maine #MidtermElections #Republicans #Scandal #ScandalNews #Senate #SusanCollins #USPolitics
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Susan Collins Odds of Losing to Democrats in Maine Amid Platner Scandal
“The more you understand Palestine, the more you understand how it’s just a part of the violence that the US military inflicts all over the world – like they did to the people in Venezuela, like they did to the people in Iran, and like they’re currently doing to the people of Cuba.”
Cameron Cooke, speaking at the "Freedom From Fascism" rally organised by Veterans For Peace in Philly on Saturday.
#USPolitics #IndependenceFromAmericasWars #StandWithCuba #Iran #Lebanon
Graham Platner debacle puts Democrats in grave danger of blowing it in the midterms https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/08/graham-platner-debacle-puts-democrats-in-grave-danger-of-blowing-it-in-the-midterms #UsPolitics #Maine #Democrats
Maine contenders: the Democrats who could replace Graham Platner https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/08/maine-democrats-graham-platner-senate #Maine #UsNews #Democrats #UsPolitics #WorldNews
Graham Platner, the Maine Democratic Senate candidate, is out of the race. He withdrew his candidacy while continuing to deny allegations of sexual assault. Here's more from @abc.
Graham Platner ends Maine Senate campaign after sexual assault allegation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/08/graham-platner-maine-senate-campaign #Maine #Democrats #UsSenate #UsNews #UsPolitics #WorldNews
RE: https://mastodon.social/@SouthDakota/116887117402138939
Quooting for alt-text
[IMAGE: Photo of Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear, lying in bed, afraid, looking at Bruce Willis (Dr. Malcolm Crowe) off camera, captioned "I just had a 20-minute conversation with Mitch McConnell."]
#politics #uspolitics #uspol #MitchMcConnell #DeadManNotTalking
Democrats accuse Graham Platner of trying to put ‘thumb on the scale’ of process to replace him https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/08/graham-platner-senate-calls-withdraw #UsNews #UsPolitics #Maine #UsSenate
NEW: Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law.
The Texas attorney general appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years — despite his warning voters that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-voter-registration-election-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Texas #KenPaxton #Vote #Election #Law #TX #USPolitics
RE: https://newsie.social/@ProgressivePower/116878883963591517
When a nation has a shortage of skilled labour, they usually look to Immigration to fill the gap, but these days Nations would rather collapse and die than let a 'forrin' in.
The irony of the Nerd Reich's plans being thwarted by their Racism, it will keep happening though.
#USPol #USPolitics #NerdReich #TechBros #DataCentres #Immigration #Racism
How could Democrats replace Graham Platner in Maine’s Senate race – and who might they choose? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/07/how-democrats-replace-graham-platner-maine-senate #UsPolitics #UsNews #Maine #UsMidtermElections2026 #UsSenate #Democrats
Bernie Sanders calls on Graham Platner to withdraw amid sexual assault claims https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/07/bernie-sanders-graham-platner-maine-senate-race #UsNews #Maine #BernieSanders #UsPolitics #UsMidtermElections2026 #Democrats
Dear #Americans,
You're a laughingstock!
Signed,
- Every nationality on Earth!
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Most World Cups are remembered for one thing, often something silly – Ronaldo’s pie chart haircut or Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in the final.
This one will be remembered for Trump gleefully admitting the crime, followed a few hours later by 4-1.
This is the sort of small humiliation that lingers longer in the collective memory than sweeping policy insults. You can’t get people worked up for very long about tariffs. They’re too math-y. But rigging the World Cup? People will never forget you did that, and how badly you screwed it up.
So congratulations America, you’ve really run the table in this one. You were at your best, then your worst, and then your most hilarious.
Key Democratic figures call on Graham Platner to ‘immediately’ withdraw from Senate race – US politics live https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/jul/07/graham-platner-democrats-senate-maine-trump-nato-us-politics-latest-news-updates #UsPolitics #Maine #UsSenate #UsCongress #UsNews #DonaldTrump #TrumpAdministration #WorldNews
US Pol Platner [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
I wouldn't be shocked if the people of Maine still refuse to stop supporting this Nazi who loves killing people and hates women even with now being an accused rapist. If he drops his campaign they will probably blame it on leftists and the media.
I'm as left wing as they come, but this is one fight all the writing was on the wall of going bad and a certain group of people wouldn't give up because they actually trusted this dude to govern as he says he will rather than every single thing that screams the other way. This is one situation where I would have settled for just a liberal candidate.
Woman accuses Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner of sexual assault https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/06/graham-platner-assault-allegation #UsPolitics #Maine #UsNews #WorldNews #Democrats #UsSenate #UsCongress
Trump says his funeral will be bigger than the Ayatollah's.
I say, prove it. Put up or shut up.
Probably only his close ass-lickers will be present and it will resemble this weird state fair ghost town thing he forced down the public's throat at taxpayer's expense.
But regardless, I'd like to see what happens. Please hurry up and show us, asshole.
"White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US."
https://www.theverge.com/policy/961449/white-house-mamdani-heatwave-deletion
(#paywalled)
"The deletions by the Trump administration are broad and indiscriminate. While pages that would support Mamdani’s request to lower thermostats were deleted, so too were pages about water conservation, types of insulation, and its solar decathlon challenge."
Here are preservation copies of the deleted pages in the Internet Archive.
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/*
#Censorship #Climate #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
"The main aim of the slave states was to block federal power—via the rule of the democratic majority—to take measures to limit or end slavery, and to prevent its westward expansion.
From the very beginning, the southern slave states insisted on the national government relinquishing as much power to the states as possible—and to give them the power to block federal actions binding on the entire United States."
#USpolitics #USConstitution #Slavery
https://www.savageminds.co/p/slavery-states-rights-and-american
"but her emails"/"but she would've been exactly the same" latest
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A chart depicting US and Chinese investment in fossil fuels. The US begins around $15bn in 2010 and China begins on $60bn. In 2015 the US is static while China has dropped to about $55bn. Through to 2020 the US drops to around $10bn and China drops to $39bn. China increases back up to around $50bn in 2024 then begins a sharp decline to approximately $45bn. The US shoots up from $10bn in 2024 to approximately $50bn in 2026, overtaking China.
The Only Person in the World Who Putin Still Controls...
Russian President Putin calls Trump to congratulate him for America's 250th anniversary and invites him to visit Russia.
The call lasted more than an hour.
More News at @Free_Press
#AureFreePress #News #Politics #uspolitics #uspol
Pope Leo XIV calls for America and Europe to increase efforts to protect and integrate migrants.
#AureFreePress #News #uspol #uspolitics #Vatican
NEW: These Immigrant Kids Were Once Protected. Under Trump, Their Deportations Have Tripled.
A first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis found that children who entered the U.S. by themselves are being detained and removed at about three times the rate they were during the final years of the first Trump presidency.
https://www.propublica.org/article/unaccompanied-minors-deportations-elder-chavez?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Immigration #ICE #Immigrants #Trump #Children #USPolitics #Law
#Republican protests about the #SCOTUS #citizenship ruling are eye-opening. From the NYTimes: "Kevin Roberts, the president of the #HeritageFoundation...[said that the decision] lessened the value of American citizenship."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/30/us/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court
Update. I should have noted Justice Thomas said this in his dissent.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-365_4hdj.pdf
Thomas: "The Citizenship Clause 'added greatly to the dignity and glory of American citizenship.'…Today’s opinion devalues that citizenship."
I've been emotionally invested in this race due to, you know, Online, and it's a big shame McMorrow's pitch didn't land amid the rabid factionalism surrounding the other candidates. She really seemed like the voice of reason, the model for what a Democrat 'should' be.
El-Sayed will certainly win regardless. This left-leaning primary wave isn't going to stop until it hits national elections, and perhaps not even then.
With the photo of the EXPLICITLY FASCIST marchers in DC going around today - particularly the one of them on a bus with one black woman looking towards the camera - please remember:
THIS IS EXPLICITLY A FASCIST FLAG.
Yes, there's pre-fascist history of the fasces. There's also pre-fascist history of the swastika, but that doesn't make _it_ not fascist either.
It was the symbol of the Italian fascists of Mussolini:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fascist_Party
And several other explicitly fascist parties since:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_symbolism
Their flag is an _explicit declaration of World War II-style fascism_.
A lot of fascists around Shitstain and his followers pretend they aren't fascists. These guys put it on a flag.
#uspol #uspolitics #politics #fascism
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Photo of a group of masked marchers carrying inverted US, right-side-up 13-star US, but most importantly fascist flags with the fascia enclosed in a circle surrounded by stars on a blue field, with two right-pointing chevrons to its right in white on a red field. Along the top: "This is the Italian [swastika symbol]." Along the bottom, "This symbol is the fasces, the original symbol of fascism, as in Nazis. They are telling you they are fascists. For god's sake, believe them."